LIVIN' LARGE: Derek Jeter and CC Sabathia bump fists as they come off the field after the fourth inning of last night's 10-1 Game 4 blowout in Anaheim. Sabathia allowed five hits and one run in eight inning to earn his second win of the series. Photo: N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees are nine innings away from another World Series appearance, thanks to two guys who have never been there.

One day after being lambasted for the way he used the bullpen, Joe Girardi’s decision to start CC Sabathia in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Angels last night on three days’ rest made Girardi look smart.

That involved a small degree of thinking. Writing Alex Rodriguez’ name in the cleanup spot was a no-brainer.

Sabathia and Rodriguez — with help from Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera — drove the Yankees past the Angels, 10-1, in front of 45,160 at Angel Stadium.

The victory, marred by two blown calls by umpires, puts the Yankees in a commanding, 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series that resumes tomorrow night when A.J. Burnett faces Angels ace John Lackey.

Working on short rest for the first time since last October, Sabathia proved to be worth the $161 million the Yankees dropped on him last December. In eight innings, he allowed a run, five hits, two walks and fanned five.

“I didn’t feel any different at all,” Sabathia said of the short rest. “This late in the season you are feeling healthy.”

Long considered a player who was suffocated by the postseason attention and pressure, Rodriguez is shedding that label. He went 3-for-4, homered, drove in two runs, scored three and stole a base.

“I will say that in other postseasons I failed, sometimes miserably,” said Rodriguez, who has hit five homers this postseason, one shy of Bernie Williams’ club record. “It certainly feels good to come through for my team and help my team win.”

Damon added a two-run homer in the eighth, and Cabrera went 3-for-4 and drove in four runs.

Through five innings Sabathia had given up a run and threw only 63 pitches. He allowed the first two Angels to reach leading off the sixth, but induced Juan Rivera to bang into a 6-3 double play and watched Howie Kendrick’s liner land in Mark Teixeira’s glove, getting him back in a groove that saw him retire the last eight hitters he faced.

Since he started the postseason with a less than stellar October ledger, there were questions about Sabathia in the only month that counts in the Yankees’ universe.

“I never had any doubt about me being able to perform on this stage and pitch well late in October, but it seems like people did,” said Sabathia, who is 3-0 in three starts this postseason. “I feel great. Hopefully I can keep it going.”

Angels starter Scott Kazmir against Sabathia wasn’t a contest. Kazmir struggled with control and didn’t get out of the fifth. In four-plus frames, he allowed four runs, six hits and three walks.

Teixeira, another Yankee who never has been to the World Series, didn’t want to get too giddy about needing one win in three games to get there.

“This was a big win; we are one game away,” said Teixeira, who singled in five at-bats. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves. If you start thinking about the World Series, you are not going to get the job done.”

Nobody who watched it will ever forget the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox. The Yankees had four shots at winning one game and didn’t.

Now, five years later, they have three to get one.

With Sabathia ready to pitch a Game 7 if needed and Rodriguez continuing to look like the biggest kid in Little League, you have to like the Yankees’ chances of getting to the World Series for the first time since 2003. At least that’s the way to bet.